Chapter 255: Drugged
Rebecca’s POV
His expression changed immediately, the casual tension in his posture vanishing into sharp Alpha focus. "Strange how?"
"I don’t know," I murmured, pressing a hand to my flushed cheek. "Hot. Really hot."
He came around the wide mahogany desk, his long strides closing the distance between us. But as he got closer, the suffocating heat in the room didn’t lessen—it exploded.
My breath caught sharply in my throat as his scent hit me with the force of a physical blow. Crisp mint, damp rain, and rich ozone. Goddess, why could I suddenly smell him so strongly? It was overwhelming, saturating the air until it felt like I was breathing him directly into my lungs.
Kaden stopped several feet away, his entire body going rigid as his nostrils flared. A sudden, visceral stillness came over him, and then his eyes changed. The deep green of his irises darkened as his pupils expanded, consuming the color.
"Ruby," he said, his voice dropping into a low whisper that sent a strange, dangerous shiver straight down my spine.
"What?" I whispered, my eyebrows pulling together.
"Don’t move."
His jaw clenched so hard a muscle jumped in his cheek. He inhaled again, taking in the air around me, and then his sharp gaze snapped directly toward the half-empty cup sitting on his desk. Something dark and angry crossed his face.
He moved forward, grabbing the glass from the desk. He brought it to his nose, sniffing the dark rim.
"What?" I asked, sudden fear piercing through the bizarre heat racing in my blood. "What’s wrong with it?"
Kaden didn’t answer me. His fingers tightened around the glass so hard I thought the thick material might shatter right in his palm.
He turned toward the heavy oak door and roared, "GUARD!"
The door burst open almost immediately, two guards spilling into the study with their hands on their weapons. "Alpha?"
"Find the maid who just delivered this tray," Kaden commanded, his voice laced with pure, terrifying authority. "Lock down the hallway, find out who put her up to this, and get the pack healer up here now. Move!"
My stomach dropped into a cold, endless pit. "Kaden...?"
His eyes moved back to my face, dark and unreadable, before dropping briefly to the locket resting against my throbbing pulse point. "I don’t know what was in that cup yet, but you shouldn’t have drunk it."
I stood up too quickly, intending to back away, but the moment my feet left the floor, the entire room tilted wildly on its axis. My knees buckled beneath me.
"Kaden—"
He moved like lightning, catching me before I could hit the hard floor. His arm wrapped securely around my waist, hoisting my weight up and pulling my flushed body flush against his broad chest.
The second our skin made contact, every single nerve ending inside me seemed to ignite into pure electricity.
I gasped aloud at the sensation, my entire body shuddering. Kaden froze instantly, his grip locking tight around me, and I froze right along with him. My hands had automatically come up to brace against his broad shoulders, my palms resting flat over the hard heat of his chest.
His scent completely surrounded me now. His warmth, his thunderous heartbeat beneath my fingertips, his sheer physical presence—everything was turned up to an agonizing, intense clarity.
I slowly raised my eyes to his.
Kaden’s expression had turned terrifyingly controlled, his jaw set in a rigid line as he fought the dark hunger clearly bleeding into his wolf’s eyes.
"Ruby," he gritted out through clenched teeth, his breath hot against my face. "I’m going to let you go."
He made a subtle movement to push me back toward the desk, to put distance between us, but for some chaotic, undeniable reason, my fingers tightened around his shirt instead.
I knew something was deeply wrong with me. I knew it with the tiny, rational part of my brain that was still functioning, but knowing didn’t seem to matter anymore. Every breath I took filled my lungs with Kaden’s scent—crisp mint, damp rain, and rich ozone—and every place his body touched mine burned like liquid fire.
My pulse hammered wildly as my gaze dropped to the strong column of his throat.
Goddess. I wanted him.
The realization should have terrified me, but the drug screaming through my blood turned every nerve ending into an unbearable ache. I leaned forward, completely consumed.
"Ruby?" Kaden warned, his deep voice dropping into a warning.
I ignored him and buried my face against his neck, pressing my hot lips directly over his surging pulse point.
His entire body went rigid. A sharp, ragged sound dragged out of his throat.
"Fuck." His hands immediately closed around my shoulders, shoving me back with enough force to separate us. "No! Get a grip on yourself!"
I frowned at him, irritated and desperate from the sudden distance. "Why?"
"Because you’ve been drugged!" he growled, holding me at arm’s length.
"I feel fine."
"You can barely fucking stand!"
"I can stand," I insisted, stepping toward him to prove it, but my knees immediately buckled.
Kaden caught my elbows before I hit the floor, hauling me upright against him. "Excellent demonstration."
Despite everything, his mouth twitched. That tiny, brief movement destroyed whatever remained of my common sense. I grabbed the front of his shirt, pulled myself upward, and slammed my lips against his.
Kaden froze completely. For one heartbeat, his lips remained beneath mine, a violent shockwave running straight down my spine. But before he could yield, his hands closed firmly around my upper arms, pushing me away again.
"Ruby—"
I tried to reach for his face, desperate to pull him back. "Kaden..."
"No." His voice hardened into pure Alpha authority. "Someone put something in that coffee, and whatever you’re feeling right now is because of it!"
"It isn’t."
"You don’t know that."
"I know what I want!"
His expression darkened, his green eyes dilating until the color was almost entirely gone. "So do I," he growled, his voice trembling with restrained desire. "That’s exactly why I’m not touching you."
My heart jumped into my throat. I stared at him through the haze.
He wanted me.
Some reckless, wild part of me latched onto those words immediately. I moved toward him again, but Kaden backed away, keeping his distance.
"Ruby. Stop."
I followed him step for step, watching as he retreated until the back of his thighs hit his heavy desk. I almost laughed. The ruthless Alpha King was actually running away from me.
"Why are you running?" I asked, my voice thick and breathless.
"Because apparently one of us needs functioning judgment right now."
I closed the distance, catching the lapels of his shirt once more. "Kaden—"
I went to kiss him again, but Kaden turned his face away at the last second, my mouth catching the hard angle of his jaw instead.
"HEALER!" he roared toward the open door, his voice echoing off the walls. "WHERE THE FUCK IS THAT HEALER?"
The heat beneath my skin suddenly spiked, becoming almost unbearable. I flinched, squeezing my eyes shut as a wave of dizziness rolled through me. "It’s getting worse..."
That immediately wiped the frustration from his face. "What?"
"I’m burning," I whimpered, tears of frustration stinging my eyes. "Kaden, please..."
Kaden reached out, touching my flushed forehead with the back of his hand. I leaned instinctively into his cool palm, letting out a soft gasp. His jaw clenched so hard a muscle jumped in his cheek.
"Bathroom," he muttered.
Before I could process what he meant, his arm swept beneath my knees, hoisting me effortlessly into his arms. My arms wrapped instinctively around his neck as he carried me straight through the adjoining door into his massive private bathroom, slamming the heavy door shut behind us.
"Put me down," I whispered, trailing desperate, soft kisses along the line of his jaw.
"Gladly."
He marched straight into the walk-in shower stall with me still in his arms before lowering me carefully onto my feet. Before I could move, he reached past my shoulder and slapped the metal handle.
An instant, freezing torrent of water crashed down on top of us.
I gasped violently, the icy shock cutting the air clean from my lungs. My hair and clothes soaked through in seconds, sticking to my burning skin as the cold spray poured over us.
"Kaden!" I gasped, shivering uncontrollably.
"Stay under it," he growled. He stood beneath the spray right along with me, completely drenched, his heavy black shirt plastered tightly against his broad chest.
"It’s freezing!"
I glared at him through wet strands of hair, but my body’s reaction wasn’t helping at all. The sight of him soaked, his dark hair plastered to his forehead and water dripping down his defined jawline, only made the fire in my blood burn hotter. My gaze traveled downward before I could stop myself.
Kaden noticed immediately. "Eyes up."
I looked up at his face. His expression was almost comically stern. "This isn’t funny."
"I didn’t laugh," he gritted out.
"You’re thinking about it."
"I am currently thinking about finding whoever put that shit in my coffee and tearing them apart."
Another violent shiver tore through my body, making me dizzy. I wrapped my arms tightly around myself. "Kaden..."
His expression softened slightly, the harsh look slipping. "The healer is coming, Ruby."
"It’s not working."
"The water?"
I nodded miserably, my teeth beginning to chatter. "It’s not... working."
Kaden took a careful step closer, standing directly in front of me beneath the spray. "Look at me."
I raised my eyes to his.
"Breathe," he commanded softly. "Slowly in. Slowly out."
I tried to follow his voice, taking a slow, shaky breath. For a few seconds, focusing on his eyes actually helped steady the chaotic pulse in my head. But then he reached out, his warm fingers brushing wet strands of hair away from my face.
My eyes closed at the contact. "Kaden..."
"Ruby."
I caught his wet wrist, gripping it tightly. He immediately tried to pull back, but I held on with everything I had. "Don’t."
His dark eyes narrowed. "Don’t what?"
"Don’t move away."
"I’m not going anywhere," he said, his voice thick and rough. "But I’m not doing what you’re asking me to do, either."
I opened my eyes. His face was only inches from mine, water running down his cheekbones and dipping into the curve of his lips. Slowly, I rose onto my tiptoes and pressed my wet lips against his once more.
His hands caught my waist instinctively, steadying my weight, but his mouth remained firm, refusing to yield to the kiss.
"Kaden," I whispered against his lips, my hands twisting into his soaked shirt.
"No."
I kissed him again, pressing harder, feeling the ragged rise and fall of his chest. His breathing grew heavier, his grip on my waist tightening until his fingers bit into my hips.
"Ruby, stop," he growled, his voice trembling with the sheer effort of his control.
"Why?"
"You know why."
"I want you."
His eyes flashed with a dangerous light. For a long, agonizing moment, neither of us moved under the pouring water. Then, Kaden gently cupped my chin, tilting my face up so I had no choice but to look directly into his dark, searching gaze.
"Do you even know who I am right now?" he demanded, the question cutting straight through the haze in my head.
I frowned slightly, staring at the sharp angles of his face, the intensity in his dark green irises. "Of course I know who you are."
"Tell me."
"You’re Kaden," I whispered, my voice trembling. "Alpha Kaden."
Something painful and raw flickered across his face. "And you still want me?"
The question was quieter now, stripped of all Alpha authority, leaving only an agonizing vulnerability between us.
My heart hammered against my ribs. "Yes," I breathed, looking directly into his eyes. "I want you."
For the first time since this started, Kaden looked genuinely shaken. A muscle worked in his jaw as he stared at me, his chest heaving under the cold spray.
Then, slowly, deliberately, he stepped backward, pulling his hands away from my waist.
"No."
My chest tightened with a sharp pain. "Why?"
"Because tomorrow morning, when whatever was put into that coffee is out of your system," he said, his voice dropping into a harsh, steady vow, "I need to know you can look me in the eyes and say the same thing."
I stared at him through the falling water, completely speechless.
Before I could say another word, heavy, loud footsteps echoed outside the bedroom, followed by a sharp knock on the bathroom door.
"Alpha!" a voice called out.
The healer had arrived.
Kaden’s dark eyes never left mine as he backed toward the door. "Finally."